The cooking instructions for frozen foods sold in plastic pouches usually direct users to place the pouches in boiling water or in a microwave oven for designated intervals until the contents are fully heated and ready to serve. For microwave cooking, venting of such a pouch is required and the vents, even when carefully formed, may cause some spilling of the contents during a cooking operation. Whether cooked in a microwave oven or in boiling water, such food pouches are inconvenient to handle when hot, and difficulties are often encountered in supporting the pouches as they are cut open and their contents removed. While clamps and other utensils may be used to reduce such difficulties, the handling of hot food pouches has continued to present difficulties for consumers.
Racks of various types are frequently used in cooking procedures. For example, racks have been used for barbecuing (U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,869) roasting (U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,922), and warming food items (U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,213). To my knowledge, however, no one has previously suggested the possibilities and the advantages of providing a holder for plastic pouches of the type in which frozen foods are thawed and heated or cooked by microwave energy or boiling water.
An important aspect of this invention therefore lies in providing a plastic holder in which frozen food pouches may be supported during and following cooking in a microwave oven or, alternatively, following cooking in boiling water. Being formed of rigid and electrically nonconductive plastic, the holder is unaffected by microwave energy and may be used to support a food package during the cooking or heating operation. Because of its configuration, the holder allows the hot foods to settle to the bottom of the vertically-supported pouch, leaving the empty upper end of the pouch exposed so that it may be easily cut open for serving of the food. In serving the food, a user may easily squeeze the end wall sections of the holder together to securely clamp the pouch in place and permit its contents to be poured therefrom. Such pouring or serving operation may be readily performed without requiring any direct contact between the hot pouch and the user's fingers.
Briefly, the holder comprises a stand of U-shaped cross section formed of hard, flexible, plastic material having a planar base and two generally planar, spaced, parallel side walls formed integrally with the base and extending upwardly therefrom. Each side wall has a main section and at least one end section with the two sections separated from each other by a generally vertical slit. Ideally, a pair of such slits are provided in each side wall, dividing that wall into a main section and two such end sections. The side walls have upper portions flared outwardly to facilitate insertion of a food pouch into the narrow open-topped channel defined by the base and side walls. Gripping ribs are provided by the end sections and enlarged flanges serve as finger guards (or guides) adjacent the vertical slits. The transparency of the holder allows a user to see the food package and its contents during cooking and serving.
Other features, advantages, and objects will become apparent from the specification and drawings.